human disease were converted into instruments for the extension of human pain. mer. The In the same manner as the spirit of gaming has seized upon these different institutions and amusements of antiquity, and turned them from their original to new and destructive uses, so there is no certainty that it will not seize upon others, which may have been hitherto innocently resorted to, and prostitute them equally with the forThe mere prohibition of particular amusements, even if it could be enforced, would be no certain cure for the evil. brain of man is fertile enough, as fast as one custom is prohibited, to fix upon another. And if all the games now in use were forbidden, it would be still fertile enough to invent others for the same purposes. The bird that flies in the air, and the snail that crawls upon the ground, have not escaped the notice of the gamester; but have been made, each of them, subservient to his suits. The wisdom, therefore, of the Quakers, in making it to be considered as a law of the society, that no member is to lay wagers, or reap advantage from any doubtful event by a previous agreement upon a pur moneyed moneyed stake, is particularly conspicuous; as wherever it can be enforced, it must be an effectual cure for gaming. For we have no idea how a man can gratify his desire of gain by means of any of the amusements of chance, if he can make no moneyed arrangements about their issue. SECTION II. First argument for the prohibition of cards and similar amusements by the Quakers is, that they are below the dignity of the intellect of man, and of his moral and Christian character-Sentiments of Addison on this subject. THE reasons which the Quakers give for the prohibition of cards, and of amusements of a similar nature, to the members of their own society, are generally such as are given by other Christians; though they make use of one which is peculiar to themselves. It has been often observed that the word Amusement is proper to characterize the employments of children; but that the word Utility Utility is the only proper one to characterize the employments of men. The first argument of the Quakers on this subject is of a complexion similar to that of the observation just mentioned. For, when they consider man as a reasonable being, they are of opinion that his occupations should be rational; and when they consider him as making a profession of the Christian religion, they expect that his conduct should be manly, serious, and dignified. But all such amusements as those in question, if resorted to for the filling up of his vacant hours, they conceive to be unworthy of his intellect, and to be below the dignity of his Christian character. They believe also, when they consider man as a moral being, that it is his duty, as it is unquestionably his interest, to aim at the improvement of his moral character. Now one of the foundations on which this improvement must be raised, is knowledge. But knowledge is but slowly acquired; and human life, or the time for the acquisition of it, is but short. It does not appear, therefore, in the judgment of the Quakers, that a person can have much time for amuse amusements of this sort, if he be bent upon obtaining that object which will be most conducive to his true happiness, and to the end of his existence here. Upon this first argument of the Quakers I shall only observe, lest it should be thought singular, that sentiments of a similar import are to be found in authors of a different religious denomination, and of acknowledged judgment and merit. Addison, in one of his excellent chapters on the proper employments of life, has the following observation :-" The next method," says he, "that I would propose to fill up our time, should be useful and innocent diversions. I must confess I think it is below reasonable creatures to be altogether conversant in such diversions as are merely innocent, and have nothing else to recommend them, but that there is no hurt in them. Whether any kind of gaming has even thus much to say for itself, I shall not determine; but I think it is very wonderful to see persons of the best sense passing away a dozen hours together in shuffling and dividing a pack of cards, with no other conversation but what is made up of a few game-phrases, and no other other ideas but those of red or black spots ranged together in different figures. Would not a man laugh to hear any one of this species complaining that life is short ?" SECTION III. Cards, on account of the manner in which they are generally used, produce an excitement of the passions-Historical anecdotes of this excitement --This excitement another cause of their prohibition by the Quakers, because it unfits the mind, according to their notions, for the reception of religious impressions. THE Quakers are not so superstitious as to imagine that there can be any evil in cards, considered abstractedly as cards, or in some of the other amusements that have been mentioned. The red or the black images on their surfaces can neither pollute the fingers nor the minds of those who handle them. They may be moved about, and dealt in various ways, and no objectionable consequences may follow. They may |